Somalia: Consolidating Peace Still 'Not Easy' - UN

New
York, Dec 31 2012 5:00PMThe top United Nations official
for Somalia today signalled the need for uninterrupted
international support for the Horn-of-Africa country if
gains over the past year are to be consolidated and
advanced.

“For the first time in a generation, a safe,
secure and prosperous Somalia at peace with itself and its
neighbours seems more like a reasonable aspiration than a
distant dream,” said Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for Somalia, Augustine P. Mahiga, in a
‘year-end’ letter to the people of Somalia and the
international community.

“However, the road to
stabilization will not be easy,” he added. “Somalia
remains a state in need of support from the international
community, which will need to re-invest comprehensively and
generously if it is to capitalize on its massive investment
of time and resources.”

August marked a historic
political watershed for modern-day Somalia with the
swearing-in of the country’s first formal parliament in
more than 20 years.

The event brought to an end the
so-called Somali “transition,” which had begun with the
2004 launch of a UN-backed interim government after Somalis
had been without a functioning government since the
overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

In his
letter, Mr. Mahiga spoke of the New Year being “full of
promise and hope” for the country, which, since 1991, has
seen warlords, Islamist militants, and its neighbours
variously involved in its affairs.

“After several failed
attempts to end of the Transition in Somalia, we succeeded
this past year because the process was inclusive,
transparent, legitimate, participatory and Somalia-owned,”
the UN envoy said.

The Special Representative also heads
the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), which the was
established in 1995 to help the world body “advance the
cause of peace and reconciliation through contacts with
Somali leaders, civic organizations and the states and
organizations concerned.”

UNPOS supports the African
Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Somalia which, known by the
acronym AMISON, has since 2007 been trying to help bring
peace in the country.

A series of Somali Government and AU
offensives, as well as a Kenyan army incursion in 2011,
resulted in the end of frontline combat involving the
al-Shabaab Islamist militant group in the Somali capital of
Mogadishu in August last year. Al-Shabaab lost its last
urban stronghold – the important southern port of Kismayo
– this past October, along with the significant inland
town of Wanla Weyn.

“At the beginning of the year, my
office and half of its staff relocated to Somalia and
continued to work alongside key Somali partners in a variety
of sectors,” Mr. Mahiga said in his year-end letter, in a
reference to the move from UNPOS’ former office
headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

“The centre of gravity
has shifted to Mogadishu, and UNPOS (is) completing a major
strategic review to ensure full alignment of its policies
and programs with the goals and aims of the new
government,” he added.

Mr. Mahiga said the mission is in
the process increasing staff presence in the Somalia “by
100 per cent in the coming weeks,” as he called on other
members of the international community “to come to
Mogadishu.”

The Special Representative noted that, in
the last year, UNPOS had “closely cooperated with key
regional interlocutors to ensure a unified and coordinated
approach on important political issues.”

According to
Mr. Mahiga, initiatives included the establishment of a
“joint framework” between the AU and the
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) – an
eight-country regional body that aims to encourage
cooperation between its member states.

He said the
framework ensured “close collaboration on issues affecting
the Somali peace process.”

“This harmonized
international and regional response to challenges within
Somalia played a critical role in enabling the international
community to speak with one voice in support of the
process,” Mr. Mahiga added.Dec 31 2012
5:00PM________________For more details go to UN News
Centre at http://www.un.org/news

New Zealand likes to think we played our part – via the 1981 Springbok tour – in bringing the apartheid regime in South Africa to an end… Jacob Zuma treated the death of Fidel Castro at the weekend as an occasion to pay a heartfelt tribute to the thousands of Cuban soldiers who travelled across the world to inflict the first significant military defeat on the forces of white supremacy. More>>

Once again at the business end of a US election, the result will hinge on the same old bits of geography as always: the Five Crucial Counties in Ohio, the Two Crucial Counties in Pennsylvania and the I-4 Interstate Corridor in Florida that runs from Tampa Bay through Orlando to Daytona Beach. More>>

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is convinced of having obtained irrefutable evidence to establish that on 17 July 2014, flight MH-17 was shot down by a BUK missile from the 9M38-series. According to the JIT there is also evidence identifying the launch location that involves an agricultural field near Pervomaiskyi which, at the time, was controlled by pro-Russian fighters. More>>

ALSO:

Former Portuguese Prime Minister António Guterres has emerged as the clear favourite to become the next United Nations Secretary-General following the sixth secret ballot held today by the UN Security Council, which is expected to take a formal decision tomorrow and forward Mr. Guterres’ name to the 193-Member General Assembly for final confirmation. More>>

The coverage of international news seems almost entirely dependent on a random selection of whatever some overseas news agency happens to be carrying overnight... Here are a few interesting international stories that have largely flown beneath the radar this past week. More>>

Refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru, most of whom have been held there for three years, routinely face neglect by health workers and other service providers who have been hired by the Australian government, as well as frequent unpunished assaults by local Nauruans. More>>